001on Thursday, August 21st, 2025. And I would like to call this regular board meeting to order. >> Can I get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Please stand and join me in saying the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and to the for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Before we approve the agenda um to ensure the board has had sufficient time for an internal discussion and due diligence regarding a personnel matter, I move to amend the agenda to include an executive session to discuss the employment of a public employee after the approval of the minutes. Do I have a second?
002>> Second. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. >> I need a movement to approve the agenda or to approve the amended agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now I need an approval of the minutes of the board meeting that we had on June 19th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now I need a
003motion to approve the minutes of the special board meeting on July 1st, 2025. >> Second. Please call the role. Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. >> Now, I need an approval of the minutes of the special board meeting on July 10th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. And finally, I need an approval of the minutes of the special board meeting on August 14th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >>
004yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. We will now be moving into executive session and we will be returning out of executive session and resuming the normal board meeting. Mr. Acriman, do we have any public commentary? >> We do not. >> All right, moving on to board of education business. Um, I'd like to start with the mission moment. For our mission moment tonight, we would like to thank several people. Corbert, Connie Evans, Jerry Gil, Christina Higgs, John Osborne, Kevin Owens, Chris Schneider, Christina Steel, Sammy Wills, and Trent Wood for demonstrating our portrait of a staff member trait of student centered. Before our teachers unpacked their boxes and before the first student walked through the doors of our new middle school, our custodian team was already there, working early mornings, staying late into the evenings, and pouring
005their energy into making sure that everything was ready. Their work is more than just preparation. It is pride in our schools, dedication to our students, and a commitment to excellence. Thanks to their tireless efforts, our staff was welcomed into a school that was clean, functional, and ready to inspire learning. And when students arrived, they stepped into a building that already felt like home. We are incredibly grateful to our custodial team. This school year started off strong because of you. Thank you so much for being the foundation of our success. Can we Can we let Corbett speak? >> Yes, of course. >> Corbett, let's do it. >> John, should they all come up? >> Actually, why why don't you bring the team up? The team that's here. Come on up. Let's do it. They're a little
006reluctant, but come on. Let's go. Go get that camera, Parker. >> I can talk loud. >> Oh, he can. >> Sorry, there we go. >> Is it working now? >> Okay. Say, um, thank you guys. We really appreciate it. everything, all the kind words, the help from people that like Eddie, Jeff, Todd, I mean, all the behind the scenes that have went on. Um, I'd also like to thank the summer help guys. We had um Toto, JP, Ben, Robbie, Noah, and Will. Those guys, we lug boxes like Chris and Trent. We lug boxes up to the third floor because the elevator wasn't working. We moved success academy and sixth grade and preschool and we just it was a lot of moving but together everybody made it happen and it was just it was good for
007everybody to get together and make this happen as a group. >> So we thank everybody for all the kind words and thank you >> Corbett. I wanted to uh Corbett but you can you can listen by yourself. So, I wanted to give a special thanks to everybody, but um so Nora Chestnut is my daughter and when she everyone I've heard Nora knows a lot of people and I go, "Huh? Yeah, so do I." No, no, no. Like she really knows everybody and not just knows them, but like loves them. We went through the middle school open house and she's giving hugs and high fives to everyone of your probably everyone on your team, all of the food service people. And so, um, it just is a another example of how much, um, you guys connect
008to the students, um, and are part of the staff and then the reason why, um, our kids love it there. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, for our next order of business, we need a motion to approve the resolution to authorize the treasurer to invest in commercial paper in bankers acceptances. Do I have a motion? I >> think we skipped a page. >> We did. >> Oh, >> you're back on Great Oaks resolution. >> I'm so sorry. I just flipped right over that. >> That's okay. You've had a busy start of the meeting. >> All right. I thought that was weird because I was like, that should be in the treasures report. Okay. So, now I need a motion to approve the Great Oaks resolution. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion?
009Um, I will just say the so, um, every school that is part of the Great Oaks, um, which is the largest vocational career tech center in Ohio, um, and second largest in the country, sends a representative, um, and so, and it's a three-year term, and it has been rotating throughout the 35 members that go across, and they are trying to align everybody and um, reset everybody starting January one. So, that's what this resolution is. It's for next term next term uh or starting next term, January. Um but I appreciate learning about live oaks. We're lucky that live is so close to us, right in our backyard, has so many great opportunities, but that's what this um resolution is about. >> And this is this where you attend their regular board meetings? Yeah. Yeah. So, and
010so even though it's Great Oaks resolution, you're over at Live Oaks when you go through those meetings. >> Oh, no. It's great Oaks. It's all one. So, there's four campuses. Live is one of four campuses. So, >> yeah. No, it's been fantastic having you at those meetings and the the information you bring back and just the fact that we do so much with them already and only plan to expand really. So, >> yeah. No, I really appreciate the work you do over there. >> Thank you. >> All right. Can I get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Uh, now I believe Michael has a summary for the treasures reports. >> Yeah. So
011we try to do um a readout of committee uh just some things that we do at the various committees since everybody can attend. Um the main piece of the finance committee this month was discussing student debt. So which includes both student fees and athletic paytoplay fees that have accumulated before this year and then as they start to accumulate once the school year starts. So um Lisa had come in and provided us with some details around that and the current process and procedures. Uh we plan to meet again uh next week to discuss this further. So you know our goal is to set our staff up for success as we learned at the convocation this year and the year before. So, we'll look at the process and procedures that are going on now um with collecting
012student debt to ensure that um you know that we have a good process in place and we're working handinhand with the community and the parents to make sure that we can get the the um outstanding debt paid down you know faster, get it resolved quicker. So, so she came in, gave us a presentation on that, but we'll uh discuss that more and then come back in October with, you know, any updates that are relevant to the community around that process, but it mainly just, you know, kind of happens in the background. Um so then as we move on to the reports that Doug is about to give since we just finished our fiscal year. Um you know it's important to point out Doug's going to show two different reports here in a minute as part
013of his treasur report. A year ago we were forecasting a $3.9 million spending deficit for the fiscal year. And then, as Doug will show, through our dis district district-wide commitment to fiscal responsibility, we ended the year with an actual overspend of 161,000. >> Wow. >> So, we accomplished um a lot of savings throughout the year. And and then the second part that Doug is going to show is so when the state budget bill was happening um it went through the Senate, the House, and the governor. There was various I like to call threats, but various things in there about clawing back money from different school districts across the state that held over a certain amount of money in their reserves or in their savings. U we were a little bit north of that number. So,
014in response to that, and Doug will talk about this more in a minute, we were able to pull some of our money from our general fund, put it into a debt retirement fund that we will have an opportunity to use to pay down uh some of the district debt. There's a few times a year where the district gets the opportunity to do this, to pay down debt, and at that time, you can also refinance uh some of the debt that you have to get a lower interest rate. So, by Doug being proactive, um if the governor's property tax committee was to bring this back where they put a cap on the amount of money that districts can save, our dollar amount and our savings should be below that threshold and sitting in a a fund
015that the district does still control to to pay down debt. So, um I wanted to give that overview to highlight two things. is that one um from $3.9 million spending deficit down to 161 is very impressive. Um there'll be another five-year forecast that will be reported next month at the Octo October board meeting. And between now and then, we will be looking at um the various savings and the money that Doug had to move um that I just reviewed and come back in October with a new updated five-year forecast to see where the savings that we save this year will roll into the future years to lower that level of deficit spending that we were looking at a year ago. Um and with that, I will pass it over to you, Doug. Sir, >> do
016we need >> So, we need a motion to approve the border reports. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Now turning it over. >> Okay. Madame President, members of the board. I am excited. I try to be excited every month, but um we had a great year. Uh so when we ended uh fiscal year 25 on June 30th and then you can see this is our reconciliation right here. So if you can scroll down Steve you can see that uh if you keep going we did balance keep going a little bit more. So we balanced between our operating fund and uh the accounting software that we use with the state of Ohio and then payroll balanced as well. So that's great. Um, and then if you scroll down some more, you'll see that these
017are the investments that we had for fiscal year 25. What we earned in I got to look at my cheat sheet. I apologize because those numbers are hard to read. Uh, so we earned $546,000 in the month of June and for the year 4.9 million. >> So that's all in interest. That's incredible. That's great. And then if you scroll down some more, this is a report that uh Mr. Wilson was discussing, this is a snapshot of each month, how you look compared to your 5-year forecast. So if you scroll down, you'll see that here's the negative 3.9 million. Uh oh, this is the So scroll down one more. This is the bad one. So here's the good one. Scroll down just a little bit more. So 3.9 million and there we were 161,000. So this
018is an actual snapshot of where we would have ended fiscal year 25 if House Bill 96 had gone our way. And when I say that part of House Bill 96, there was a potential 50% cap. Uh 40% is what it end up being, but a 40% cap. happened. If you were over that 40% cap in your reserves, then you had to do something with the money to benefit the taxpayers. So, if you go back up now, Steve, to the other one. So, what we did after uh keep going discussing with legal counsel is we moved so we transferred a lot of money uh 8.6 6 million to be exact um into debt debt retirement so that it would benefit the taxpayers. So in essence, you don't see it right away, of course, because your taxes
019are always paid in the rear. We just save the taxpayers $8.6 million. Um I'm happy about that, but I'm also sad because the governor vetoed the line item. So I apologize. I did not know that. I didn't even dream that it would happen, but it is not going to stop us from being fiscally responsible and to keep moving forward on saving every dollar that we possibly can. >> Yeah. So, what happened there just is that it went from 50% um I think what in this it was goes to the it goes house then senate. So, it was 50% >> and then it started low like 20 or 30%. >> 30 and then I think it went to 40, right? >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah, >> it ended up 40. Yeah. Well, I guess the net of
020it is is when it ended up, the governor vetoed it at the end. So, it passed the actual chambers of the House and the Senate and then the governor vetoed it. So, >> you know, at that point in time, it was still unknown of how they would even pull the money back and what they would do with it. So, for us, it's it's much better and more biscally responsible and better for our community for us to do something with it that we we we know what the outcome is of of the money that the the taxpayers have paid into the school district. and then they could override his veto too. So now it puts us kind of out of that, you know, window of possibility regardless of what they decide on. >> The positive note
021here for all taxpayers is the money has been moved into debt retirement. It cannot be moved out. So it is now there for debt retirement purposes. >> So that's a positive. um with the veto and the ability for the supermajority to override that veto, we won't find that out until December. >> As late as December, yes. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Which there's always the possibility they could be brought back uh in the next two-year cycle. So, we will just keep our eye on that. Um but it's not going to stop us from being fiscally responsible, which is what's important. >> Yeah. Most likely what I was reading the other day is that the committee at the the the group the committee that the governor's put together is supposed to give him their recommendation at the
022end of September. So likely that will be what they do moving forward. Now the other thing that came out of House Bill 96 is they moved the five-year forecast dates. So instead of being a November and a May filing, they've moved it to August and February. Now, there won't be one this August because when a law is passed or signed into law like House Bill 96 was, you have 90 days before it takes action. So, it'll be October 15th, which is still six weeks earlier than normal. What what is difficult when you submit something that early is your numbers don't look as good as you want them to look. So February will look better and then a year later we'll really start to see how things look. So I'm trying to be positive. I'm swinging
023this. >> Well, I mean the main thing will be to look at the what how we ended up where we ended up this year and make sure we're just pulling those things forward. So and then making sure we're highlighting those for the community which we'll plan to do. >> Okay. So, if we scroll down, we've got some graphs and keep going, keep going, keep going. Okay, so you can see that uh I believe revenue. So, we have our local revenue just about even um state revenue was down a little bit and then all other revenue was obviously down. Most of that's tied to, believe it or not, in in interest investments. And then if you scroll down to the next one with purchase services or excuse me with expenditures, you'll see that salary and benefits
024was up. Purchase services was down, which is great. So that's where a lot of our savings was. Now don't be misled by this because that's the $9 million that I had to move from one fund to another fund. So >> anyway, and then the next slide, this is just a different different way to look at the graph um where you can see the the breaking points right there and there. Again, don't be misled by that part. And then the next slide. So part of House Bill 96 is you're not allowed to have administrative expenditures over 15% of your total operating costs. Well, you can see right there that we're sitting at 12.91% for fiscal year 25. So, we're doing a good job at keeping our administrative administrative expenditures down. So, all right. So, then we
025move into July. Now, if I was a sour puss about moves in the money, House Bill 96, don't look at July because in July, we don't receive any money and all we do is spend money. So, we did we did balance. We're good there. And then if you scroll down, you'll see our investments around a little 350,000 347,000 whatever that is in there. And then as you scroll down, so this is the one I love showing you guys. And today I have to show you that, okay, we have we had a loss. So once we get two to three months into the year, things should start evening out. We've not received, like I said, any revenue. By revenue, I mean our property tax revenue. We did receive that in August. That'll show up next month.
026And those numbers will look better. And then if you scroll down, >> is the first line there, the 692,000, is that what we're currently projecting? >> Well, that was off of last year's five May's 5year forecast. Okay. So based on that change, correct? That's where we would end up. So, it's still much better than we were correct. >> Looking correct, >> previous years. So, >> yeah. And then that'll be an updated number next month when we >> update the 5-year forecast. >> Yeah. Good. >> Okay. And then as you see our revenue, well, that's that's where we are this fiscal year. Nothing. State, we're down a little bit. That's just because the new bienium budget hasn't kicked. Uh takes 90 days, like I said earlier. Once it kicks in, we'll receive additional revenue there. And
027well, we look good there, but that's because of the other reason, the change. All right. And then as you start looking at salary and benefits as far as expenditures go, they are down right now. Uh purchase services are up a little bit compared to last year, but again, remember, we're looking at July to July. And then of course, all other expenditures are down. And then different different format for the graph. And then one more shows >> still the three shades of blue. >> I know. I know. We're working on that. >> There's red. >> Yeah. Yeah. This one now. So this is our administrative expenditures so far for July of fiscal year 26. We did go up, but again, we're also going up because our expenditures were very high in July. So, and that's it.
028Can I ask a question that you didn't touch on here, but um people might know that we don't have busing. Uh do we know what the financial impact of that or when will we have a better picture because I know it's still >> we're going to talk about that next month. >> Okay. >> When we start looking at the five-year forecast. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Any more questions or discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? Yes, >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. >> Now, I need a motion to approve the resolution to authorize the treasurer to invest in commercial paper and bankers acceptances. So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Now, this is something that um the reason
029we do it is and I have to take a class and pass a test and we actually have an investment company that does it for us. Um these are shortterm debt obligations. So in other words, we loan money to companies for a minimum of a month to a maximum of six months basically. So it can't be longer than six months and by doing that we can earn more money and then every year what you have to do is not only have the board of education approve it but then it gets sent to OD and to the auditor of state. So, >> is there a risk to that? >> There is a risk, but that's what's nice about having a company like Red Tree is they watch it so closely that there's they're only going to
030invest in companies they know that there'll be a return. >> Any other discussion? Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Uh, I need a motion to approve the vendors for approval this month. >> Second. >> Um, I I have one comment. I like the addition that says what budget or area is using each one because sometime sometimes the names are obvious and sometimes you're like, who are they and who's using them? So, I like that addition. >> If we didn't have Mr. Wend down and Mrs. Corsanne, I would feel the same way because I just asked them. >> Who's getting a personal chef? Nutrition services. >> Oh man. Yeah. Everything looks good to
031me. >> Okay. >> Any more discussion? >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now I need a motion to approve the contracts >> for approval. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions or discussions? Okay, please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. >> Now, I need a a motion to approve the then and now. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Acriman, can you just explain what those are? >> Okay. Then and now. So, when you close out a fiscal year, you have to close out all your purchase orders. When
032you close out your purchase orders, you know that you're going to be receiving invoices at the beginning of the next month, the first month of the new fiscal year. You don't have the purchase order set up. When you don't have the purchase orders set up, they're called then and nows. So, you know that you have the money to cover it, but because the purchase order wasn't set up before the expenditure, you need to ask the board to move forward with that. >> And this typically happens most every year at the turn of this turn of the fiscal years. All right. Any more questions? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. And now I
033need a motion to approve the donation. >> So moved. >> Thank you to Anonymous for the 3D printer. It's very generous. Did we get that maker space figured out over there at the high school? >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> I'll follow up with Kevin since Tyler is no longer with us. >> Yeah. Just make sure they're keeping an eye on it to make sure that um that space is open when the kids need it to be. But just made me think of that with the 3D printer thing there. >> Any more discussion? Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. Now we're moving on to superintendent's business and
034I'll hand it over to Mr. Spicer. >> Thank you, President Mason, members of the board. Jeff Johnson, business ops. Here we've got a nice uh drone video and some other updates uh regarding the middle school. >> Um best thing I can say is we're in >> um we did we did receive our conditional uh certificate of occupancy. Um, we've still got some work to do to get our permanent certificate of occupancy. Um, that'll still probably be a couple of months. Um, but, uh, probably the longest lead item is we have to have 70% of our grass growing in order to get the permanent CO. >> So, >> um, as we've talked about in the past, um, you know, just because we got our TCO doesn't mean a lot of work's not still going on in
035that building. Um, a few contractors are working during the day. most of them finishing up their punch list or working in the afternoon um trying to finish those things up. Um a lot of the work that has left to be done um anybody who's been on campus can tell is the site work. Um we are hopeful that um again hopeful that by the end of next week the east parking lot will be in. >> Wow. >> Um and Oor is um quickly moving on getting rid of the old junior high. It is down as as we all can see. Um there's still a lot of debris to be trucked off site. Um and foundations still need to be taken out. Some of them have already been done, but they're still working on kind of the
036last thing to be done is taking the foundations out. And once that's done, Bray will start working on um the the softball field and the practice fields and kind of finishing that out towards Wolfpen, including sidewalks and and things along those lines. So, um, and then, um, so we'll work on that. Um, on the agenda for a little bit later on during my section is an added parking lot. So, with the the savings that we've, um, made over the last two years, um, we've got budget money available. So, where Mount Milford has been for the last two years, um we're going to put a parking lot in there outside the tennis courts that'll be at about another 105 110 parking spots on campus. Um so, we're we're working diligently to try to get that done
037before asphalt plants close. >> Yes. Yeah. Asphalt plants don't stay open in the winter. So, um we're we're working on getting that done. I'm not sure how many home football games and tennis matches we'll have available, if any, for that for that court or that parking lot, but um we're working to get that done as quick as we can. Um the last thing I wanted to mention um I wish I had a dollar for any of your time somebody asked me about bricks or pavers. >> Um but if you look right outside um actually right outside these two windows, there's a couple of pallets of the pavers that we pulled out of the sidewalk. Um, I do believe a few of them got broken, but but everything we've got is out there. And then there
038are a couple of pallets of bricks that actually came out of the building. So, kind of open to the public. If you want to come get a brick, um, come get a brick. So, and I think we'll work with Parker on getting something out. Um, but, uh, we did manage to save some of those. So, it's been kind of a crazy few months and and just on the heels, I know they've all left, but um you know, there were a lot of people who went into the getting all this together, but the last two three months of a project just tend to be kind of crazy. And I couldn't ask for a better team of people to to to get this done. And we would not be kids would not be in school it wasn't
039for that group of kids. And I appreciate the board for recognizing them because they deserve it. My maintenance department is part of that. Um really the whole custodial staff because even the the folks who were in the high school and the folks that were in the elementary schools, they picked up some slack just because of all the stuff that was going on focused on the pre moving the preschool, moving elementary classrooms and then obviously the big move of getting out of the junior high into the middle school. So I really appreciate all them. They did they deserve all our gratitude. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean going in there on the grand opening and just how incredibly just prepared the space was and clean and I know it wasn't just still a few days out from
040having the kids there, but I've been into some new buildings before and they were first built and just I I know the level of like detail that goes into just cleaning all the corners and the floors from all the construction debris and I mean the the learning stairs and all that stuff. Everything was just so clean and I mean just brand new looking. It was just fantastic. So yeah, I couldn't believe it. They did a great job. >> And and and just a reminder, a great shout out to our partners and SHP and Conger Construction. This building opened up almost two months ahead of time. >> Yeah. >> Because of some delays in getting some permits and and our notice to proceed was later than anticipated. Our original contractual date to be in that building
041was September 26th. >> Yeah. >> We got in there August 1st. And I feel like that's unheard of when you're building a building like that. So >> great like thanks to them, great thanks to your team. I know everybody has been really busting to get everything finished and it looks amazing and I think that the open house was just a really great time to see all of that together and to see how our students can use it. It's just a really really wonderful project. Well, and I appreciate the confidence in our superintendent and the board in nearly two years ago, year and a half ago, doing away with the alternative schedule of opening up after Labor Day. That that was a goal to me. We're we're not doing that. We're getting open. We're getting open
042in August. And we had teachers in that building unpacking their boxes, getting their classrooms set up on August 1st. >> That's awesome. >> Thank you. I think we got some drone footage. It's uh been on social media, but we thought we'd show it here as well. [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] All [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] right, that's a huge thank you to Jason Murk for coming out flying his drone uh in the building and u making this video for us. So, um, that was a work in progress, I think, for a couple months. Thanks to Jeff for working with Jason to make that happen. And, um, we have a lot to be proud of. Right. Right. >> That drone work is impressive when they fly it like in those spaces
043like that. >> All right. Well, on to number two, policy. We do have a first reading of the following policies one through four. Uh most of those changes are um title nine putting TJ Glass Meer, new HR director's name in those and um and our organizational chart name changes. Uh number three, policies for approval. This is our second reading of um those three policies. All right. I need a motion a motion to approve um policy J ECE policy J E D and policy J E DA >> second. >> Any discussion? >> No, I'm good. >> Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. Uh, item four is the 2627 academic calendar first reading. Steve,
044if we could pull that up. And Parker, you may want to make your way to the podium in case there are questions. Um, this is a first reading, so we're not voting on it. Um, Parker, yeah, Parker did a lot lots of renditions of this, lots of counting. Uh and ultimately we did share this with um the uh Milford Education Association and um this is the calendar that a majority of the um yes voted for. So we we made a couple of renditions of this. We used last year as a base and we had to kind of move some stuff around. >> Um the biggest thing was the start of the school year which >> uh we we had a couple of different versions of this one. some with an earlier start start date and
045some with a later start date and it seems that the majority of the MEA all got together and voted and they agreed upon this later start date of the 17th. Uh so this is the one that had the majority of the votes. So this is one we will be moving forward with. I think the big note is uh of Chris's break and how it divides it up. If you want to scroll down just a little bit there, Steve, just the way it works is that that first keep going. Keep going all the way down. Keep going. Keep going. All right. In that first quarter, you'll see that it's 42 days. And just because of Christmas break, it had to line up with 37 days in that second quarter. Uh just because I know we try
046to make sure 40 days hits each quarter. That's just the way it works out with that first half and a quarter ending. Uh with Christmas break or excuse me, with winter break, uh the third quarter and the fourth quarter both having those days, they're pretty similar. So any questions? Uh, no, no questions. But a few things that I see that I know we've talked about in the past is the teachers had requested um in September like a day off of calibration. Like we've had students for about a month and now we if we need to make changes. So I saw that that was in there. Um and then regular breaks for the students. So I think every month has um at least one long weekend um or some have you know full Christmas break and
047and Thanksgiving breaks and things. There are tons of breaks in there. >> And I didn't get to vote, but I'm really happy about the later start date. >> That was a big piece of feedback from our teachers is either you have a very early start back or you have a later one and they decided to move forward with that later start date for their teachers. >> Yeah, I think the the best part about it is the later start. The hardest thing for us to get the later start, there are so many breaks in between that's kept pushing it back. So, um, Parker works some magic >> and it helps that, uh, Memorial Day is apparently super late in 2027 31st. >> So, I don't know what that will do for next for next year. Um,
048but yeah, >> Mother Nature, whoever sets Memorial Day, I don't know how that works, >> I mean, I know it's the last >> Definitely not Mother Nature. >> Well, the calendars and how the moons fall, how many weeks Any other questions on the calendar? All right. So, I just have a final update for you. Uh the the middle school and the junior high um certainly a special place for me. Uh but my journey began in Milford in 1994. Not nearly as long as you Myra um but as a former junior high school English language arts teacher, believe it or not, and then science. Um, I later returned um to the district with some leadership experience as the district director of secondary curriculum and for the past five years I've had the honor of serving as
049your superintendent. You know, while co made those years very different than what I had imagined it might be and I'm surely everyone felt that way. I've truly loved so much being a part of this district. This past year I've watched my three boys, Jack, graduate from the University of Cincinnati. Uh Charlie started uh year two of his orthopedic residency and Will uh was officially inducted into the Navy this summer. And my wife continues to feed her entrepreneurial spirit and I saw each of them continue their journey and I realized that my mission was complete with my boys and I think it is as well here. Uh it is time for me to step forward into my next journey and I've decided that I will retire at the end of December. Uh I'm deep deeply grateful
050um for the privilege to serve this community since 1994 off and on. Uh I just want to ensure the board that I will be here um for a smooth transition for the next superintendent, whomever that may be. So with that, President Mason, members of the board, I respectfully request that the board approve my resignation for the purpose of retirement and employment conclusion and my last day of employment will be December 31st, 2025. Well, before we do that, um I just wanted to thank Mr. Spicer for his years of service to the district. Um we really appreciate your deep commitment to our students, our staff, and also the community. Um and I think especially your advocacy for public education has been so clear to everyone. um your fight for fair school funding going up to the
051state house and speaking on behalf of our school. We really appreciate that. Um as a superintendent, you have consistently championed our student well-being and also educational opportunity for all of our students and we thank you for that. Um, I also just wanted to say that the board is committed to ensuring a thoughtful and transparent leadership transition. We're going to begin the process of searching for a new super superintendent immediately and we'll continue to keep the community informed and engaged along the way. As always, our focus remains on providing the best possible education for our students and continuing the excellence for our community that our community expects from Milford schools. >> So, with that, um, I need a motion to amend the agenda to accept the resignation of Mr. Spicer for retirement purposes. So moved. >>
052Second. >> Any discussion? >> I do just want to say like, you know, John's been a a mentor of mine ever since I started getting involved with the Milford School District years ago with the with the the Yes. for Milford Pack. And you said it, Emily, but you know, your dedication to the well-being of the staff and the students like has always given me a lot of comfort for our district. Um, and I know we'll find that in our next superintendent, but that is something I never had to be concerned about was um, your desire to make sure that all kids are safe and treated equally. So, um, we'll make sure we carry that forward and just to make it clear, Mr. Spicer will be here with us through the end of the year, working
053through the transition with us. So, um, you know, we'll make sure that's that's smooth as we go forward and, you know, we'll have more time to talk about all your great successes here. We appreciate that. I'd say I appreciate communication uh the communication that you brought. Uh engaging the community specifically. I know a lot of people are like I don't know what the school's doing and John was on the phone. I mean it was not even always a return phone call. Sometimes it was initiating call and knowing Representative Gene Schmidt, she knows you, right? And and that's because that's because you're up there advocating for school. So I I really appreciate your communication. going last. You know, everybody always says, "What do you want to say?" But I do appreciate your advocacy for fair funding
054for public schools and your communication with us. I couldn't have asked for more communication from you and I appreciate it. >> Maybe we'll find some advocacy work for you after retirement with Jean. >> I don't know if she wants me. >> We free to do more at that point. >> All right. Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. >> Now, I need a motion to accept the resignation for retirement purposes of Mr. Spicer. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any more discussion? >> I guess the I guess we jumped on that. We did through a bending the agenda. >> Mrs. Will. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson. >> Yes.
055>> Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. >> Congratulations. >> All right. >> Um, now we're moving on to human resources business. And we have a consent agenda. So, I need a motion to approve items F1 through F5. >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Um I I don't know that I had discussion. Where's TJ? There he is. He's over here. But um uh there are a couple items on the agenda that um we ask teachers or staff for extra hours. Um can you tell us a a few examples of when teachers would would need extra? >> So example certified approvals are prep school. Under item two personal days, a lot of the things on here are training. So they We also Um, we also have extended study hall. Also, I'd like
056Whoops. >> Repeat on that. No, I'm just kidding. >> No, no, no, you're good. >> Uh, and then just the last thing, uh, we we are asking you to approve anou with the MEA. We have a kindergarten teacher that splits her time between sight belt and void. And unfortunately, the schedules don't line up perfectly. So, she is going to miss out every day on 15 minutes of her plan. So, we'd like to compensate her for that missed time. Any other questions about anything that's on there? >> I think that was it. >> Thank you. Please call the RO. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. >> Uh, next we're moving on to curriculum and instruction business. And
057I believe Emily has a few things. >> A very small update since it's the start of the year and we're just getting started. But, um, at CNI this month we talked about curriculum pay. There's um some additional similar to um what Mr. Glassmire just talked about. Um and then we also discussed the calendar which we have also um already talked about, but uh curriculum is certainly kicking the year off and we'll continue to hear from them. >> Sounds good. All right. I need a motion to approve the curriculum pay. So moved. >> Any questions? Can I get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. >> Now I need a motion to approve the
058resolution authorizing transportation and practical. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now I need a motion to deem transportation impractical for the following students under item 2A for the 2024 to 25 school year. So this was last so moved >> second. >> So is it was this last year >> or is that are those dates yes >> for last year? >> Correct. Um, and then as we move forward, once the students on the list, they stay, they remain on the list. We don't have to approve them every year. Um, but it also only impacts the same students we are transporting, which means we have no
059high school students that were transporting in district. We have no high school students out of district. Any more? >> All right, please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >> Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. Now, I need a motion to approve the 2526 meal prices. >> Second. Second. >> Any discussion? >> Yeah, I was very happy to see that. That's it's really good, especially with all the different things going on right now. So, that's fantastic. Very happy to see that. Yeah, I'm >> always very impressed by our food services program and look to see how we can >> better support them in the future. >> Please call the role. >> Mrs. Will, >> yes. >> Mrs. Powers, >> yes. >>
060Mr. Wilson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mason, >> yes. >> Ying and yang there, TJ. >> I thought I was imagining this. Now we need a motion to approve the purchase agreement. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Jeff, do you want to tell us about this? >> Uh, so this purchase agreement is between the school district and Miami Township to sell the preschool property. Um, we've worked with them for um several months. They um we are selling that property as is. Um, so they will take care of doing um any abatement or demo or or what they need to do. Um, we've obviously taken them on tours of the building and and uh so we're fortunate to be able to um sell that and and you know the township's looking at
061what they can do with that property. Um but um I think we're looking at a closing date. Don, did we say by the 1st of October if I'm not mistaken? Is kind of the goal? >> Yes. the county would like it wrapped up by then. >> Yeah, county wants to wrap that up, so we'll get out of there. Um, and from as far as us moving out of there, we really don't have a whole lot of stuff that's left in that building anyway. Um, we need to go through and take um we've got some special ed equipment that we don't need right now, but we don't get want to get rid of because we don't know if we get a kid that might need that equipment sometime in the future. So, we're working with Miss
062Hayden on kind of where to store that equipment and um but for the most part, we're out of there. So, um, happy to not sit on that property like we have with some others in the past. I >> say when I was on, uh, Claremont County Developmental Disabilities Board, we had a building for four years that we could not, uh, sell. >> We had one for longer than that. >> Well, yes, we have South. So, um, it is I appreciate the partnership with Miami Township to >> definitely >> um to use to reuse that space. Does Myra want Did Myra already ask? She wants bricks. >> I'm kidding. You need to talk to the township a little bit. >> No, you can call it preschool, but I will always call it Miami Elementary. >> Some
063people here would call it Malberry. >> I used to have a picture of Maryanne graduating eighth grade on the stage at Malberry there. >> Before she was a homecoming queen. >> All right. Can I get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Now I need a motion to approve the change order. >> So move. >> Second. >> And Jeff, this is what you were referring to. >> This is what I was referring to a little bit earlier. Um, keep in mind it's not just um throw some gravel down and put some asphalt down. There's a fair amount of um leveling out. There's there's some spoils need to be taken out of off site. There's
064storm that needs to go in. There's electric and lighting light poles need to go in as well as some landscaping. So, um you know, meeting the the township um zoning requirements. Obviously, you need parking lights. You know, you need to get rid of the water. Um so, so it's like I said, it's not just throwing some gravel down. Anybody who's looked at how long it's taken us to get to the point we put gravel down in that east lot of the middle school, um there's a decent amount of work there. But, you know, fortunately, you know, through, you know, the due diligence of the project and saving on the contingencies and some of the allowances we had in the contract, you know, we're not coming I'm not going to Doug asking for money out of
065the general fund or the PI fund. This is this is out of savings from the project. And John and I looked at this several months ago and said, "We need to put a parking lot in there. We need anybody who's up there on a Friday night or open house or any kind of big event. um we could use all the parking on that campus that we can and hopefully we get this parking lot done and people will stop parking on either way. >> Um is now a time to ask about uh traffic flow and how that's going on campus and if there's changes andor the stop light. >> Um I still do not have any kind of a schedule from Claremont County. I'm hoping like literally any week. Um and um traffic flow at the
066middle school and high school just like every other um school we've got is busy. It's crowded. Um I'm incredibly proud of our building principles, our SRO's, John and I, TJ, other administrators have been out trying, you know, watch and look what we're doing. I there's not a whole lot of hey, do this instead of that. I mean, a little bit of tweaks um but but they're dealing with a lot of volume of traffic very very well. So, very proud of how they've done. Um probably the biggest challenge we have is in the afternoons and people showing up super early because then it starts backing up and it starts backing up. As soon as students are released, that traffic starts flowing pretty well. Um so, the mornings are a little less hectic just because you kind
067of drop and go and drop and go. In the afternoons, you gota kids's got to find his parents' car, his or her parents' car. Obviously, takes a little bit more time. Um, when the east parking lot opens up, it will help with some stacking that we've got on the middle school and high school campus. Um, just like we've done from, you know, a week ago and a day to today. We'll look at it. We tweak once we get that east parking lot open. Hopefully by September 2nd, first first day of school after that parking lot opens, we'll still be doing the same. All right. How do we how can we utilize this space? One of the challenges we've got right now is we really don't especially right around the middle school. You know, I've still
068got probably a dozen contractors vehicles that are on site every day. Um, I'm over there every day, which you know, and and teachers and, you know, we've got some people parking along the roadway and and and parking is a struggle right now. There's no doubt about it. Um, so we really are are working towards and looking toward getting that parking lot open and I think that will open things up and then eventually once we get added turn lanes on Wolfpen and then probably a little bit farther down the line once we get the the light and the turn lanes put in on 131, we're hoping that'll, you know, accelerate getting traffic off of campus. Um, as as the person who's been doing pickup at the high school, um, I think it'll also help to get
069rid of the fences because the kids walking along the, you know, trying to walk home and get out. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, there's a ton of cars and now there's students trying to cross and and get wherever they need to be." So, um, but I saw an improvement from day one until, you know, this week. It's it's getting a little bit better every day. >> All right. Can I get a roll call? >> Mrs. Will? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason? >> Yes. Do we have any public participation? >> We do not. >> All right. Um, does anybody have anything they would like to discuss? >> I have some final comments. >> Yeah. >> Misty Guts. >> Misty Gats back
070here. Please stand. Come to the microphone. Come on. Come up to the microphone. >> TJ TJ will turn it on for you. Misty Gets has been awarded the Ohio Middle School Principal of the Year by the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators. I just want to read a few little things that they sent us um uh regarding Misty and her application. And all these things we know to be true and that is that Misty gets believes that every decision she makes as a school leader from scheduling to instruction and extracurriculars should be directed in a very intentional way to ensure that the school experience prepares her students to think critically, act responsibly, and ultimately thrive in a dynamic interconnected world. Misty is a dedicated Ohio school leader who devotes as much energy to the growth
071of other leaders as she does to the teachers, students, and community members of Milford. She routinely shares her expertise as a presenter at professional development events directed at improving the leadership capacity of others. She is well respected by her peers, often going out of her way to share her experiences and ideas. The next generation of school leaders benefit from her example. >> Gets we should think about hiring. >> Honored. >> Make sure it's on. Um, can you hear me? Um, um, I'm I'm was surprised. Uh, very surprised. I was I was honored just, you know, whenever they announced zone 2 that I was this Southwest region um, principal of the year. I was very honored and quite honestly I I didn't, you know, I thought they're going to look and see that I'm I'm moved
072roles to central office. Um, and so I was very just honored, just completely honored to um, receive this award. But I have to say that, you know, I wish I could share it because I I was only as good as I was because of my students and my staff, you know, the the people that surrounded me. Um, we were a team. We were a family and we um loved kids, you know, like we we loved our we love our students, but like I'm I just I wish I could share it with them because, you know, they deserve it as much as me because they made me a principal of the year, the the staff and the students. So, I I just really thank them. I really think um Todd Wells, Shane Ferguson, um Jerry Camello,
073uh Cindy Bryant, Angie Grimes, Ricky Harter, um the counseling staff, Julie Beielman, and um Jenna Chambers. Just I could go on and on. Just that team and and all of the seventh and eighth grade teachers just really backed me. And um it was just a family. I can't stress that enough. We're we were a family at the junior high and I just really hope that that continues in the middle school and I'm confident it will. I'm confident that it will continue into the middle school with the sixth grade teachers just joining beautifully in so sorry I talk a lot but anyway thank you so much. Thank you. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Congratulations Mrs. Gats. Every thing that she said up there, it is so genuine if you know her and if you've seen her
074in action and you are so deserving of this award and we are really lucky to have you and I'm so excited to work with you as curriculum and instruction. >> Thanks. >> Okay. Does anybody have anything else they want to talk about? >> Quit asking. >> I'm not sure. No, I I'm sorry. Um, you had to fill out a public participation form beforehand. We will all be available up here if you want to come up and talk to us later. >> No, I didn't. >> Okay. >> Um, I would like to say that, um, this is the first year, so I have twins who are ninth graders in the high school, and I feel like it's my first high school experience because my last high schooler started in 2020, if anyone remembers what was happening
075then. Um, and so it just was not the same experience. And I think there was I mean I think I was just as anxious for them to get started and find their people and that sort of stuff. And I have been amazed at the opportunities that I see coming home that they are telling me about. I can't wait to try this. I want to try this. Did you know we can do this? Activate has an anime club. I got to go do that. And so it really um you know we hear a lot about the high school but until you are like really feeling it and seeing it and experience it um it just makes me really proud to be here and excited for um and then having a middle schooler at the new at
076the new building. Um a lot of really really good stuff. Um and it's because of work that's been done by the staff and the community and the Milford who helped us pass a middle school bond and um you know the administration who's taken that lead. a really good school year. >> I have to piggyback on that. I have a middle schooler and he was really worried and he came home. He loves it. He loves it. And I said, "What do you love the most?" And he said, "Freedom. There's so much freedom." I said, "What is this freedom?" Five minutes between classes. So, it's all relative. All right. You like that? Um, if we don't have anything else, uh, our next board meeting is September 18th, 2025, and that will be here at 6:00 p.m. at
0771099 State Route 131. And with that, I need a motion to withdraw into executive session for the purpose of discussing employment of a public employee and the sale or purchase of property. >> So moved. Second >> and we will not be voting anymore this evening upon return. So you're welcome to stay in this very cold room but there will not be any future. >> Mrs. Will. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Powers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chestnut. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mason. >> Yes. >> What's your go here? >> You don't need to wait around.